


Mama

by m0usielous1e



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 15:07:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6758980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m0usielous1e/pseuds/m0usielous1e
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Judith’s first word was “Dada”, her second was “Car”, short for “Carl”, and her third, “Meesh” for “Michonne” and this last one was her favourite for the fact that she said it more than any other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mama

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly, thank you all who've read my first work for this fandom. 
> 
> Secondly, full disclosure, I posted something about this on tumblr back when I was just browsing and trying not to commit to this fandom after the disaster of Sleepy Hollow. This is an exploration of that idea. Hope you like it.

Judith’s first word was “Dada”, her second was “Car”, short for “Carl”, and her third, “Meesh” for “Michonne” and this last one was her favourite for she said it more than any other. In the mornings when Rick went to her room to collect her, she would look past him and call for “Meesh” until he was forced to retreat. In the afternoons, when it was time to collect her from Father Gabriel or one of their friends’, she would ask and look around for “Meesh” before allowing them to pick her up. But worst of all were the days when she was actually with Michonne, for then if anyone other than Carl or Rick tried to take her away, she would press herself into Michonne and turn her head away. To say she had gotten attached was to understate the matter entirely.

So Rick was not entirely surprised when Carl came to him one morning and said, “I think we should let Judith call Michonne, ‘Mom’.”

The ladies in question were out in the backyard with Maggie and Enid, helping Judith walk. She would stray no further than a few steps from Michonne before turning back, dropping onto her butt and crawling back to her arms. Without looking away, Rick asked, “You think so?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m not trying to replace Mom or anything, but we don’t even have a picture anymore. We can tell her stories and stuff, but she won’t know her. She won't remember Beth or Carol either, but she knows Michonne. And…and I also think that Michonne would like that. Maybe. She knows how I feel about her and she knows that Judith feels the same,” Carl replied.

Rick glanced at him then, stunned, to find his son staring out into the backyard. Michonne had just scooped Judith up to pepper the baby’s tiny face with kisses, much to Judith’s delight. When she set her down again, Judith kept her hands on Michonne’s face, then reached up to rub their noses together. Since their reunion after Terminus, Michonne had spent a lot of time with Judith, even more after Carl was shot and Carol moved in with Tobin. It was only natural that Judith had begun to gravitate towards Michonne. And since he and Michonne had become a couple, Rick had been thinking about it though not seriously. Clearly, once again, Carl was way ahead of him. Rick said, “I’ll have to ask Michonne if she would mind. That’s a lot to ask.”

Carl nodded and said, “I know.”

Hours later, when the others had gone home and Carl was out taking Judith for a turn around the community in her stroller, Rick decided it was time to broach the topic. Well, after he took advantage of the empty house for some quality time with his girlfriend. Michonne made a few token attempts at protest, “Carl may come back at any time” and “What if someone needs us for something?” Rick blithely dismissed them by pulling her closer to slide his hands up under her shirt.

After, while she pressed kisses along his arm, he said, “Carl and I were talking.”

She stopped, turned to him and said, “That does not sound good.”

He lifted an eyebrow at this and asked, “Why not? It could be about anything.”

She considered this for a moment and said, “Carry on.”

Pleased, he shifted to pull her closer into him and said, “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted to be insulted, Carl and I were talking about you and Judith.”

It was just for a nanosecond, but he felt her stiffen. When he glanced down at her though, she was smiling expectantly up at him. Keeping his gaze on her, he said, “Judith loves you. Hell, some days we cannot get her away from you. You remember how she hollered like we were trying to abandon her when we had to leave her at Father Gabriel’s last week.”

Michonne shifted her gaze from his and said, “Yes, well, she’s at that age. It will pass.” She looked back at him with mischief in her eyes and asked, “Are you two jealous? Is that it? You boys think I’m stealing all of her affection? I have to admit, I’m kind of difficult not to love, but honestly, she loves Daryl more than all of us combined.”

He chuckled at that and pinched her side while she laughed, then swallowed her yelp with a kiss. It was a sweet one, as they all were, but this was important so he reluctantly pulled away and said, “It’s not that. Actually, we’re very glad that she loves you so much. We want her to start calling you ‘Mom’.”

She went wide-eyed, then blinked rapidly for a few seconds before she dropped her gaze from his face and said, “Oh.”

It was so soft, it was more an exhale than a word. Rick hastened to explain, “Listen, I know this is a lot. This is a whole lot more than asking you to hang out with Carl, which, you have done a wonderful job with him and he listens to you and he loves and respects you a whole lot more than he does me and other people. And Judith, well, she might not be around if you had not shown up that day with her formula. I know that with your son—”

She snapped her gaze back up at him and then sat up. He shifted back and sat up as well, then struggled to focus on her face because she had not taken the sheets with her. But she kept his gaze and asked, “Are you afraid that I’m going to say no because it would be too painful?”

He opened his mouth to respond but stopped at the fierce look in her eyes. She shook her head, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He waited, unsure of what to do next. Then she opened her eyes, smiled and said, “Yes, it’s painful. I still miss him. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over him. I don’t think anyone could get over something like this. But I don’t feel pain when I look at Judith, Rick, not anymore. She is a wonderful kid and it is a joy to watch her grow up. She’s that one spot of light in all the darkness that this world has become, you know? It kind of kills me a little that her mother will not get to see her, the same way that I cannot watch my son grow. And all of that is just to say that, yes, she can call me ‘Mom’.”

Rick could not help it, he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close again for another kiss at the end of which he murmured, “You are amazing, you know that right?”

“Yes, I know,” she said, laughing.

Rick loved to see her smile, the whole world seemed to brighten when she did, but this was serious, so he pulled back from his love-drunk haze again to say, “I want us to try tonight, if you’re up to it. Don’t be afraid to stop if you feel uncomfortable. She won’t mind, she already calls you ‘Meesh’ anyway. Sounds like a sneeze, but it’s the best she can do.”

She laughed again and said, “Stop, I’ll be fine. Judith and I are good. We’ll work it out.”

Rick watched her for a moment, looking for the slightest hint that she was putting up a front, detected none, and said, “Okay, Mama.”

Judith was asleep when she and Carl returned from their tour, so it was not until after dinner that they were able to try. Once they were all settled into the living room on the couch together, with Judith in Michonne’s lap, Carl began, “Hey Judy. Who’s that?”

He pointed at their father. Judith turned to Rick, then looked back to Carl and said, “Dada!”

She seemed rather proud of that and they applauded and he said, “Yes, that’s Dad. And what’s my name?”

He pointed at himself. She reached for him and said, “Car! Car!”

They applauded again, and Carl took her from Michonne’s lap and pressed a kiss to her forehead before nodding and saying, “Yes, I’m Carl. We’ll work on your ‘l’s.”

Now came the big moment. Rick took hold of Michonne’s hand. She gently squeezed his back. Carl turned Judith in his lap to face her and said, “Now, who is this?”

Judith looked at Michonne, then grinned as Michonne usually did before picking her up and said, “Meesh!”

She reached for Michonne but Carl put her hands down and said, “No, Judith, not 'Meesh'. Say ‘Mama’. She is Mama.”

Judith turned to him with furrowed brow, then shook her head and said, “Meesh.” She pointed to Michonne again and said, “Meesh!”

Carl glanced up at Rick and Michonne, who looked back at him and shrugged. Michonne reached for Judith, who launched into her arms. Michonne let her hug her, then set her down in her lap. Judith smiled up at her. Michonne pointed at herself and said, “No, Judith. Not ‘Meesh’, say ‘Mama’, Ma-ma.”

Judith stared at her for a moment, and then asked, “Mama?”

Rick watched Michonne press her teeth into her bottom lip a moment before she nodded and said, “Yes, Judy. Mama. Say ‘Mama’.”

“Mama,” Judith repeated, then glanced at Carl.

Carl nodded and said, “Yes, Judith. Mama. She is Mama.”

Judith turned to Rick, who nodded quickly and pointing at himself, said, “Dada.” Then Carl, “Carl.” And then finally at Michonne and said, “Mama.”

Judith took a moment before repeating in order, “Dada! Car! Mama!” And she punctuated this by leaping up into Michonne’s arms.

Michonne caught her just before the baby could head-butt her in the jaw, then hugged her close. Rick and Carl exchanged glances as they waited. Finally, she held Judith away from her to look at her face. There were tears in her eyes but she wore a broad smile. Judith reached a hand up to her face and said, “Meesh! Mama!”


End file.
